The sporty sex boom: how our summer of sport is sparking sizzling love affairs
Whether it’s in the queue for Wimbledon or in a Boston bar on match day, romance is suddenly in the air – especially if you’re Scottish
Name: The sporty sex boom.
Age: New for summer 2026.
Appearance: Thrilling, possibly headed for extra time.
Which sport in particular? Mostly football.
Football is a matter of tactics, determination, athleticism and aggression. And love.
No, not love. Heartbreak, maybe, but not love. That’s not how they see it at this year’s World Cup.
Who are they? The fans – World Cup matches in the US are being held responsible for a rising tide of romance.
You’ve got to be kidding. The Boston Globe is reporting that the city’s stalled dating scene has been jump-started by the excitement surrounding the world’s largest sporting event.
How can this be? First, the football is filling the bars and streets and coaxing people out, creating a buzz Boston hasn’t seen since before Covid.
And second? The city is temporarily full of seductive foreign men who are giving the diffident local lads a run for their money.
Which exotic charmers in particular? The Scots, mostly.
You are making this up. “It’s like night and day compared to American guys,” Shannon Knight, 27, told the Globe. “I’m not even attracted to American guys any more. It’s bad.”
But Scotland lost! Love has no group stage, my friend.
You know what this kind of love brings? Visa problems. Relax – it’s just a bit of summer fun.
Yes, I suppose all the excitement in the air will dissipate once the football’s over. Possibly, and possibly not: research from the dating app Feeld suggests that a shared interest in sport is driving relationships among young people.
So other sports can have this effect? Under the right circumstances, any sport can. The New York Times even found a couple, Bea and Sebastian, who chose the Wimbledon ticket queue as the setting for their second date.
A queue is not a sport. You’re wrong there: the Wimbledon queue is a notorious test of endurance. It’s hours long, with people even camping overnight to secure a position.
Sounds like a good place to meet a load of angry, dehydrated people. It’s where Georgia from Christchurch met Billy three years ago. “[We] decided to come to Wimbledon together the next year and our love story started,” she told the New York Times.
If life is really just one giant queue, it might be nice to spend it next to someone who may have remembered to bring sunscreen. You old romantic.
Do say: “Love, like football, is truly a game of two halves.”
Don’t say: “But if you’re already married to someone else, beware of the JumboTron.”
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